“What Are the Gnostic Gospels?” – Elaine Pagels | Within Reason ▶️

Elaine Pagels is an American historian of religion. She is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Pagels has conducted extensive research into early Christianity and Gnosticism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jExBkcB0RTs TIMESTAMPS 00:00 What is a Gnostic Gospel?04:51 How the Gnostic Gospels Were Discovered10:36 Secret Knowledge & Teachings18:01 Do the Gnostic Gospels Contradict the New…

“Far-Right Newspeak and the Future of Liberal Democracy” – Marlene Laruelle, A. James McAdams, Sarah Shurts, Laura Field, Samuel Piccolo | Illiberalism Studies Program ▶️

March 7, 2024 | A presentation of the ways in which contemporary far-right politicians, intellectuals, and pundits use and abuse traditional liberal concepts and ideas to justify positions that threaten democratic institutions and liberal principles. In post-Bolsonaro Brazil, neocon philosopher Luiz Felipe Pondé is a remarkable example of such far-right newspeak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXurE2lOQKs&ab_channel=IlliberalismStudiesProgram This edited volume,…

“The business of suffering: every solution needs a problem” – Orion Taraban | PsycHacks ▶️

In this second episode of a two-part series, I discuss the economic incentives driving the West's epidemic of mental illness. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Qj8Ad9--I&ab_channel=PsycHacks May 3, 2024 | Given certain regulatory requirements, it is generally easier for drug companies to receive FDA approval if their products treat disorders that do not already have a treatment of demonstrated efficacy.…

Jewish Yale University professor speaks out: ‘They’re obviously not antisemitic protests’ – Jason Stanley | Zeteo ▶️

Jason Stanley is not just any Jewish philosopher; he is the grandson of the legendary Ilse Stanley, who helped release over 400 people from Nazi concentration camps in the late 1930s. He is not just the author of one major book on fascism—but, soon, two of them. And he is not just a professor of…

“The gift of nothingness: seeing the everyday miracle” – Orion Taraban | PsycHacks ▶️

The common definition of a miracle is an event that shouldn't be possible given our understanding of physical reality. As such, the standard of comparison is the "normal" functioning of reality, which is considered "non-miraculous" by definition. However, if the standard of comparison were shifted to the no-thingness of pre-creation, then everything—down to the most…

“The meaning of life (and other topics)” – Orion Taraban | Soft White Underbelly ▶️

A third Soft White Underbelly interview and portrait of Orion Taraban, psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Dr. Taraban runs the PsycHacks YouTube channel, providing listeners with brief, thought-provoking episodes on a variety of psychological topics, inspired by his clinical practice. You shouldn't be surprised by an observation another person makes about you,…

“Why young Jewish Americans are turning on Israel” – Simone Zimmerman | Middle East Eye ▶️

"What could be more dangerous to Jewish people right now than lumping us all in with this genocidal campaign of the Israeli government?" Simone Zimmerman April 25, 2024 | “I was definitely raised to be a Jewish leader of some kind.” With college campuses all over the US gripped by intense battles around free speech,…

“Jews must raise voices for Palestine, oppose false idol of Zionism” – Naomi Klein | Democracy Now! ▶️

April 24, 2024 | Zionism is a hindrance to world peace. Hundreds of protesters were arrested in Brooklyn on Tuesday when Jewish New Yorkers and allies gathered for what they called a "Seder in the Streets to Stop Arming Israel" on the second night of Passover. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U75KcMUjMyI&ab_channel=DemocracyNow%21 The demonstration, held one block away from the…

“Arc of life” – Daniel Dennett | The Institute of Art and Ideas ▶️

This full interview was recorded two years ago and it has just been released to celebrate the extraordinary work and thought of Daniel Dennett (1942-2024). Daniel Clement Dennett III was an American philosopher and cognitive scientist. His research centered on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of biology, particularly as…

“Can religion be explained without God?” – Daniel Dennett | Closer To Truth ▶️

April 19, 2024 | Religion without God? Most people believe that God exists and religion is God’s revelation. But some say religion, particularly the organization of religion into institutions, needs nothing supernatural to begin, develop and multiply. In other words, religion without God can flourish because personal psychology and group sociology drive religion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHvIXe4DOEc&ab_channel=CloserToTruth Daniel…